#GVP # Overview I'd like to share a side project I've been working on, drawing from my time on the [[Everytown for Gun Safety]] Veterans Advisory Council and a desire to apply AI to hard problems: a gun trafficking prevention tool I'm calling Tracer. We know from the ATF that more than half of the guns used in crimes come from a relatively small percentage of licensed gun dealers. This concentration of sources presents a problem where data collection, processing and analysis can make a real dent. To tackle this problem I used [Google Gemini CLI](https://github.com/google-gemini/gemini-cli) with Microsoft's [Playwright MCP](https://github.com/microsoft/playwright-mcp) to pull data from the ATF and Brady, process and store the results in a cloud storage bucket, and built and deployed an app using [Google AI Studio](https://aistudio.google.com/) and [Cloud Run](https://cloud.google.com/run). The result is https://tracer.horgan.net and it enables anyone to look up dealers with ATF violations in their local area and quickly generate data-driven outreach scripts so they can connect with government agencies and elected official from local city councils up to federal lawmakers. ## Hypotheses I'm testing the following hypotheses: 1. There is a sufficient and accessible set of validated data on ATF violations for FFLs to provide an accurate view of those that contribute to the proliferation of illegal guns on our streets 2. Responsible gun buyers are more likely to do business with an FFL with no violations which will influence problematic FFLs to clean up their act 3. Concerned residents will use FFL violation data to get the word out in their community, e.g. share on social, leave reviews on google maps 4. Government staff (federal, state, regional, local) will use FFL violation data to put pressure on them using their respective policy levers, e.g. zoning, permits, inspections. You can learn more about the [[Data]] and [[Tools]] I'm using to build this app. # Status & Next Steps - [ ] Add metrics to the outreach calls to action to measure impact - [ ] Clean up the list of FFLs - [ ] I'm only listing those with violations -- should I pull the total list from ATF? - [ ] Many FFLs with violations are out of business -- I should flag those in the FFL list - [ ] Think about SEO on FFL pages and employing the Redirect Method, e.g. https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/research_reports/RR2800/RR2813/RAND_RR2813.pdf Completed - [x] Learn more about the Gun Store Transparency Project developed by Brady, a nonpartisan nonprofit organization focused on reducing gun violence. - [x] Set up playwright so I can pull more ATF violations, https://gunstoretransparency.org/gun-store/petes-gun-shop - [x] Get crisp about user roles, e.g. city staff, reporters, moms, congressional staff, maybe even law enforcement - [x] Look up "5 calls" # Ideas 1. Identify a person or business with FFL licenses in multiple locations. e.g. https://storage.googleapis.com/atf-inspection-reports/MA/Petes%20Gun%20Shop/NYC133837900000004.005.pdf 2. Identify addresses used by multiple licensee holders 3. Identify a person or business with a current license and a history of violations 4. Catalog any commercial websites for each licensee, which could be done by using the address, business name, phone numbers 1. https://www.bostongunandrifle.com/ 5. Associations with FBI Denials, e.g. https://www.fbi.gov/file-repository/cjis/federal_denials.pdf/view 6. Track the average prices of some "bellweather" firearms that can be used to track potential fraudulent activity, e.g. selling at a premium because the business does not formally process the sale. Sorta like the Economist's Big Mac index. 7. Parse online reviews for coded language 8. Deeper analysis of the ATF Inspection Reports 9. See what data is available on FFLs.com 10. Official ATF FFL search: https://fflezcheck.atf.gov/FFLEzCheck/fflSearch 11. Identify licenses used by businesses that aren't promoted as gun dealers, e.g. https://www.bloomberg.com/profile/company/0024087D:US Examples of active license holders with past violations: * Hunters Trading Post * 4 violations: https://storage.googleapis.com/atf-inspection-reports/MA/Hunters%20Trading%20Post%20LTD/NYC139736800000001.002.pdf * Current website: https://htpltd.com/ * Create a catalog of the type of weapons for sale and prices when listed Is it possible to create a unique identifier for the principal owner of a license that can be used to track their relationship with other licenses? Prompts * I'd like to understand any overlap in FFL data from the violations listed in each state JSON, e.g. ffl_data_MA.json and the full list of FFLs for a state in listings/ffl_list_MA.generated.json. Let's start with MA. # Statistics https://www.nycourts.gov/reporter/webdocs/020400report.pdf "The 1 percent of dealers with the most crime gun traces accounted for 22 percent of all traced crime guns. The 5 percent of dealers with the most crime gun traces accounted for almost 57 percent of all traced crime guns."